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Brain food. I found this on the internet not long ago, although it has no relevance to the shroomies, after reading it, I couldn't help but find myself thinking back to my mushroom trip. The interesting parts to look out for in this article is the nanoparticles and stretching, perhaps we're all just taking day-trips (hahah double use of a word ) to the sixth dimension, because that is exactly what it feels like. Read on and tell me what you think, or you could just call me a whacko. Your call.

nature.comIn a spin: the twirling of galaxies reveals a mystery. Dark matter seems to be attracted to itself, and more so in smaller galaxies.? NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSC

Welcome to the fourth dimension. And the fifth, and the sixth. A team of astrophysicists claims to have identified evidence that space is six-dimensional.

Joseph Silk of the University of Oxford, UK, and his co-workers say that these extra spatial dimensions can be inferred from the perplexing behaviour of dark matter. This mysterious stuff cannot be seen, but its presence in galaxies is betrayed by the gravitational tug that it exerts on visible stars.

Silk and his colleagues looked at how dark matter behaves differently in small galaxies and large clusters of galaxies. In the smaller ones, dark matter seems to be attracted to itself quite strongly. But in the large galactic clusters this doesn't seem to be the case: strongly interacting dark matter should produce cores of dark material bigger than those that are actually there, as deduced from the way the cluster spins.

One explanation, they say, is that three extra dimensions, in addition to the three spatial ones to which we are accustomed, are altering the effects of gravity over very short distances of about a nanometre1.

The team argues that such astronomical observations of dark matter provide the first potential evidence for extra dimensions. Others are supportive, but unconvinced. Lisa Randall, a Harvard physicist who has explored the possibility of extra spatial dimensions, says "Even if their idea works, which it probably does, it may be an overstatement to use these observations as evidence of extra dimensions."

Silk himself acknowledges that the proposal is "extremely speculative".

Too small to see

Physicists have suspected for years that 'hidden' dimensions exist, largely because they seem to be predicted by string theory, the current favourite for a theory of fundamental subatomic particles.

These extra dimensions are generally thought to be tiny: many billions of times smaller than atoms. This would make these dimensions very hard to detect, explaining why the Universe looks as if it has just three. Physicists such as Randall, however, have proposed that some extra dimensions might be relatively big, but inaccessible to us.

The extra dimensions that Silk and colleagues say they have identified are likewise 'big', at about a nanometre across. In other words, they say, the Universe is only about a nanometre wide in these three 'directions'.

They argue that the force of gravity does not obey Isaac Newton's famous laws over small distances, where these dimensions come into play. This has never been tested experimentally: no one has measured how gravity behaves over distances below about a hundredth of a millimetre.

Dark stranger

This variation in gravity, says Silk, could be why dark matter behaves differently in different galactic environments.

According to one interpretation of the astronomical observations, dark matter, which is thought to account for 85% of all the mass in the Universe but not to be made from the known fundamental particles, seems to attract itself through some unknown force. And this attraction seems to be stronger in dwarf galaxies than in galactic clusters. This is very odd: it is rather as if apples were to fall faster from single trees than from trees in an orchard.

But the attraction isn't due to an unknown force, argue Silk and his colleagues, but to the effect of extra dimensions on gravity. And because dark matter particles are accelerated to higher speeds in massive galactic clusters than in dwarf galaxies, they spend less time close to each other, so the effects of these extra dimensions are felt less.

Radical answerThere are other ways of explaining the puzzling dark-matter distributions, admits Silk's colleague Ue-Li Pen of the University of Toronto in Canada. For example, one could assume that the rate at which stars explode, as supernovae, was quite different in the past.

"Personally, I think changing the supernovae rate is more conservative than changing the number of spatial dimensions," Pen confesses. But he thinks that invoking extra dimensions is such an exciting idea that it is worth investigating, "even if it is a long shot".

The most popular versions of string theory suggest that there are as many as eight extra dimensions, not just three. But thankfully this needn't be a problem. There's no reason why, in addition to the three large extra dimensions predicted by Silk and colleagues, there might not be several other small ones too.

"So really, ordinary reality is a kind of chemical habit, sanctioned by culture, which says it's okay to use certain drugs, eat certain foods, and have certain sexual behaviors. However, when you transcend all this pre-conditioning by returning to the original wisdom of the animal body, then you discover this immense dimension of opportunity. For some people, it is a frightening risk. To me, that's the psychedelic experience."
Terence McKenna

if physicists would take psychedelic drugs i think the answers might get revealed a lot faster. don't you find it strange that people with no background or prior knowledge of these kind of theories can ingest a psychedelic drug and suddenly attain all the insight on this matter that an astrophysicist took years of college preperation to attain? i sure do. im not saying that if u take mushrooms or lsd or somethin suddenly all the widsom of the ages is revealed to you. (although i beleieve that is sometimes the case) but i'm saying somethine more like.... it's one of the best teachers. it's like this.... you can;t just pay for physics classes in college and BOOM automatically be einstein.... you have to pay attention blah blah do you work study and all that stuff... likewise ifyou swallow 250 micrograms of LSD it doesn;t automatically give you the insight you desire... but i do think that it will enable your consciousness to function on new levels where this insight is attained much easier then in the "normal" conditioned mind.

peace out

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One day, God created LSD through the intercession of blessed Albert Hoffman. This powerful sacrament then went on to enlighten mankind, even the president of america. This ushered in an age of spiritual unity and peace. This allowed for mankind to reach it's full potential including immortality and intergalactic exploration and habitation. Thanks, God.

i definately agree to the last comment, but I believe arrogance and hierarchy of institutions would not allow these scientits to go further with their theories and inventigations because these institutions beleivve they "know it all" and the answers they are looking for are concrete ones. they dont want to see doctors, astrophysicists and anthropolgists on shrooms or whatever with more probable answers and definitions than the already claimed ones by "sober" scientists that worked very hard to get where they are at. No matter what, No one would ever know is there are other dimensions with proof. The answers are in the mind and they are there to keep for ourselves.

Quote:The extra dimensions that Silk and colleagues say they have identified are likewise 'big', at about a nanometre across. In other words, they say, the Universe is only about a nanometre wide in these three 'directions'.